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China’s Skill Assessment System

Juwei Zhang∗

Institute of Population and Labor Economics

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Revised in April, 2004

∗ Thanks for the helps provided by Dr. Hongwei Meng, at China National Institute for Educational Research, who provides background materials essential to fulfillment of this review. Thanks also go to graduate students Ms. Lan Chen and Mr. Aimin Wang for their works in collection of the literature. Contact information: No.5 Jianguomennei Dajie, Beijing 100732. E-mail: zhangjw@cass.org.cn; Phone: 86-10-85195429; Fax: 85195427.

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I. Introduction

One of the problems existing in China’s ongoing educational system is its divorce from the labor markets, and it is closely associated with the way to assess educational outcomes in China. China probably has the longest history of tests and examination in the world. Today, tests and examination are still the tools to assess educational outcome in China, and the scores of various tests are still used in many places as the sole determinant factors for promoting students into higher level of education or even grades. Based on such a way in educational assessment, it is not surprised at what the educational system supplies would not necessarily meet the demand of the labor markets. Lack of a market-oriented system for educational outcomes seems a key for the problem. China’s skill assessment system is more characterized with the planned economy, and remains little reformed during past over two decades. The ministry of education is the main body responsible for assessment of formal educational outcomes and literacy.

II. The Education and Assessment System in China

Prior to the founding of the People's Republic of China, education in China was extremely backward, the enrolment ratio of primary school-age children was merely 20%, while 80% of the population of the nation were illiterate. With the founding of New China, numerous tasks had to be undertaken. In order to overcome the poverty and ignorance inherited from old China and gradually improve the standards of the material and cultural life of the people, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government attached great importance to the restoration and development of education. The Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China provides that 9-year compulsory education shall be implemented in China. However, in areas inhabited by 40% of the nation's population the dominating duration of study for primary and lower secondary education combined is 8 years, thus, the actual target is meant to make current lower secondary education universal. The Compulsory Education Law provides that as a rule the entry age is 6 years, and where conditions are inadequate it may be postponed to 7 years. In areas where the entire length of primary and lower secondary education is 9 years, there exist three parallel systems, namely, a 6+3 system, a 5+4 system, and a 9-year integrated system. In areas where the entire length is 8 years, 5+3 is the dominating system. According to current regulations, primary school teachers having graduated from normal schools (secondary teacher training schools), lower secondary school teachers having graduated from junior teachers colleges are regarded as fully qualified. In

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actual practice, those primary school teachers graduated from general secondary schools and lower secondary school teachers graduated from any short-cycle (2-3 years) HEIs are all regarded as qualified. The Guidelines for the Reform and Development of Education in China legalizes a new departure in educational provision. It provides "a system of educational provision shall be instituted, in which the government remains the main provider of education, allowing other sectors of society to take part in educational provision, that is, allowing the coexistence of public and non-state/private schools." The state's policy on non-state/private education may be formulated as: "Active encouragement, energetic support, correct orientation, and strengthened management". In order to promote the development of non-state/private education, the State Council promulgated the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Non-state/private Education" on 1 October 1997. In recent years a number of non-state/private schools of various descriptions have cropped up in the country, however the number of non-state/private primary schools is very small (according to the data of 1997, there were 2055 non-state/private primary schools in the country with a total enrollment of 375,000 pupils, accounting for 3.2 thousandths of total number of primary schools and 2.6 thousandths of total primary enrollment respectively. In the Decision on the Reform of the Educational Structure it is provided that with respect to the provision of primary and secondary education, a system of "provision by level and management by level" will be adopted. Under this system the responsibility for formulating major policies and of macro-level planning still lies with the central government, while the responsibilities for formulating specific policies and regulations and for the leadership, management, and inspection of schools shall all be undertaken by local governments. According to this system, in rural areas, rural schools are usually managed by administrative villages, while the central primary schools and lower secondary schools are usually managed by township governments.

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The whole system of education and assessment in China has been summarized in Table 2.1 and Table 2.3.

Primary

Schools Villages’

Committees

County

Section of

Education

County-level

Governments

Primary Schools

Central

Primary Schools

Upper

Secondary

Schools

Township

Governments

Provincial-level

Governments

Provincial-level

Bureaus of

Education

Structure of Educational Provision and Management of Primary and lower

Secondary Schools

State

Council MOE

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Table 2.1: Basic Education and Assessment in China Basic Education

Elementary Education(Compulsory Education) Secondary Education

Primary Schooling Junior High Schooling Senior High Schooling

Entrance System

Children aged over 6 years in general or over 7 years in some places without qualified facility eligible for admission of primary school.

Compulsory Education Law stipulates that primary school graduates enter the junior high school nearby without any examination.

Senior high schools select the junior high school graduates based on the examinations organized by local educational administrative departments.

Schooling Years

6 years in general; 5 years in some experimental districts

3 years in general; 4 years in some experimental districts

3 years

Checks & Examinations

term-end tests year-end tests primary school graduation examinations (Chinese and mathematics are test subjects, others are checking subjects)

term-end tests year-end tests graduation examination and examination for entering higher school, such as junior high school Local province (municipality directly under the Central Government) stipulates test subjects of junior high school graduate and entering high school examination in the graduation culture disciplines range regulated by the nation.

term-end tests year-end tests senior high school graduation examination (organized by local province or municipality directly under the Central Government) the national university entrance examination (generally implemented the test reform scheme of 3+X subjects at present) (charged by university student department in Ministry of Education)

Assessment Term-end tests, year-end tests and primary school graduation examination are devised to examine pupils’ qualified levels.

Term-end tests, year-end tests and junior high school graduation examination are devised to examine junior high school graduates’ qualified levels. Scientific assessment for examinations of graduating and entering are organized, and the assessment system of test question are set up progressively.

Term-end tests, year-end tests and senior high school graduation examination are devised to examine senior high school graduates’ qualified levels. By national university entrance examination, the proportion of students entering higher schools are regarded as the important reference of the educational quality of one teacher and one school.

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Table 2.2: Higher Education and Assessment in China Higher Education

Graduate Education

Undergraduate Education Bachelor Degree Master Degree Ph. D Degree

Entrance System

Examinations organized by the local provincial enrollment departments, regular universities recruit senior high school graduates according to their test scores in national entrance examination for higher education as well as the choice of students for university.

After attaining the bachelor degree and passed the admission examination organized by universities and scientific research institutions organize, the person who passes the examination can enter school for the graduate education of master degree.

After attaining the master degree and passed the admission examination organized by each university and scientific research institutions, the person who passes the examination can enter school for the graduate education of doctor degree.

Schooling Years

4 years in general 5 years in some special universities

3 years in general 2 years in some special universities

3years.

Checks & Examinations

Undergraduates make qualified achievement and reach the prescriptive academic level, then they will be granted to graduation and be conferred the bachelor’s degree.

According to the regulation of training plan, after finishing the required courses, making the qualified achievement, finishing the graduate thesis and passing thesis defense, the graduate student will be granted to graduation and be granted with the master degree diploma.

According to the regulation of training plan, after finishing the required courses, making the qualified achievement, finishing the graduate thesis and passing the answer, the graduate student will be granted to graduate and be granted with the Ph. D degree diploma.

Ways of Funding

1 Planed and funded by the state, 2.Funded by the working units, 3. Self-funded

1 Planed and funded by the state, 2.Funded by the working units, 3. Self-funded

1 Planed and funded by the state, 2.Funded by the working units, 3. Self-funded

tests for the completion of semester courses paper of academic years and graduate thesis

tests for the completion of semester courses paper of academic years and graduate thesis

tests for the completion of semester courses paper of academic years and graduate thesis

Assessment for Educational Results

Ministry of Education and the State Council’s degree committee together organize and implement the checking and assessment work of the degree and the quality of graduate education. The two departments also consign the province-level degree committees to do the work.

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III. The Literacy Assessment in China

3.1 Administration system of literacy assessment The Chinese government has placed literacy work as one of the priorities in educational development. In the framework of educational development, basically eradicating illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults and basically universalizing 9-year compulsory schooling have been set as "top priorities" among the agenda of educational work. Subsequent to the promulgation of “the Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy” by the State Council on 5 February 1988, State Education Commission issued ”Suggestions on Further Strengthening Literacy Work” in October 1991, and the State Council issued “the Revised Version of the Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy”. The more important revisions are related to the age cohort of the priority target group, criteria set for literacy standards to be attained by the neo-literate, and explicit requirements concerning the rights and obligations of the illiterate to receive education. Since 1990s, with the further development of China’s literacy education, literacy assessment pays more attention to its normative work. The purpose is through instituting a system of verification and acceptance of literacy work and a system of commendation and rewards to promote the development of literacy education, the teaching quality of literacy education, and illiterate learners’ abilities. With the advent of the 1990s, the Chinese government has set the general objective as basically eradicating illiteracy among the young and middle-aged groups by the end of the century and given literacy work top priority among priorities on its agenda. Following official documents are important and are the basis of China’s literacy assessment. l The Guidelines for the Reform and Development of Education in China (jointly

issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in February, 1993) It gives specific target for literacy work: basically eradicating illiteracy among the young and middle-aged adults by reducing the illiteracy rate among the 15-45 age group to under 5% by the year 2000.

l The Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy (promulgated by the State Council and revised in August, 1993)

l The Notice of the State Education Commission on the Regulations (promulgated by the former State Education Commission in October, 1993) It gives specific provisions on quality standard related to eradicating illiteracy.

l The Procedures for the Check-up and Acceptance of Units Claiming to Have Basically Eradicated Illiteracy among Youth and Middle-aged People (issued by the former State Education Commission in October, 1992) It formulates the criteria set for basic eradication illiteracy in specific work units, rewards, certificates, the main sources of funds for rewards

l The Procedures for the Check-up and Acceptance of County-level Units Claiming to Have Basically Eradicated Illiteracy among Youth and Middle-aged People (issued by the former State Education Commission in March, 1993)

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Indicator Explanation Related to the Procedures for the Check-up and Acceptance of County-level Units Claiming to Have Basically Eradicated Illiteracy among Youth and Middle-aged People Literacy assessment relies mainly on self-evaluation organized by local people’s governments at various levels. Inspection teams jointly organized by relevant departments at the national level will also conduct inspection of the achievement in literacy work in various provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The major objects of the inspection teams are county and township level governments. In brief, the national system of the literacy education and literacy assessment is showing in the following flow chat.

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THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE LITERACY EDUCATION & LITERACY ASSESSMENT

State Council & National Literacy Work Co-ordination Committee (Relevant Ministries & Agencies)

The Education Bureau at Municipalities, Autonomous Region &

Provinces • Overall plan on the Literacy Assessment at province level; • Implementing the national policies on the Literacy Assessment; • Organising & supervision on the implementation of Literacy Assessment at county level; • Co-ordination of the literacy Assessment among the agencies (governmental & non-governmental

Ministry of Education: • National Plan on the Literacy Assessment; • National Policies on the Literacy Assessment; • Supervision on the implementation of Literacy Assessment at Province level; • Co-ordination of the literacy Assessment among the agencies (governmental & non-governmental).

The Education Bureau at County • Implementing the national and local policies on the Literacy Assessment; • formulating specific local policies and regulations of literacy assessment • Organising & supervision on the implementation of Literacy Assessment at township level; • Co-ordination of the literacy Assessment among the agencies (governmental & non-governmental)

Municipalities, Autonomous Region & Provinces Government

County Government

Village Committee

Township Government l implementing higher level literacy

assessment policies and organizing

literacy work in administrative villages

l administering acceptance tests,

verification and certification

l check-up and acceptance of literacy work

Prefecture Government

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3.2 The Definition of illiteracy A person who can neither read nor write is considered to be illiterate. This definition of literacy is widely used in national population censuses and surveys but its interpretation and application may vary to some extent among countries, depending on national, social and cultural circumstances. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defines a literate person as someone who can with understanding, both read and write a short, simple statement on his or her everyday life. A person who can not fit for the development of modern society and lack of the essential knowledge and life skill is considered functionally illiterate. 3.3 Minimum Literacy Standards for Individuals According to the Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy revised by the State Council in 1993, current minimum literacy standards for individuals are as follows: with regard to the recognition of characters, 1500 is the threshold set for a rural inhabitant, 2000 for a worker or staff member employed by an enterprise or institution or for an urban inhabitant; besides a neo-literate should be able to read the easier popular papers and magazines and essays, to be able to keep simple accounts, and to be able to write simple and applications-oriented essays. 3.4 Minimum Literacy Standards for Work Units For a unit claiming to have eradicated illiteracy among its staff members, the following requirements have to be met: the proportion of literate people among all its members 15 years of age and over, born after October 1, 1949, exclusive of those lacking learning ability, should reach 95% in a rural area, and 98% in an urban area. And the rate of relapse into illiteracy among the neo-literates should be controlled under 5%. Since 1988, the Department of Adult Education of the former State Education Commission organized the case study in various provinces like Hebei Province. Through experiments in many grassroots units of assessment, State Education Commission extended the content of assessment for basically eradicated illiteracy of individuals from reading Chinese characters, reading texts, writing a brief informal note, and making a account to dictation, making up a word, filling the blanks, answering questions with written form, writing, mathematical operations, etc. The test instruments are developed by provincial level educational department and established a database of test papers for basically eradicated illiteracy of individuals assessment. The grassroots unit of assessment draw out a test paper from the database to assessment for individuals. The method greatly saved the manpower, material resources and time, raised the quality of acceptance. Based on the case study in some provinces including Henan Province etc., the Department of Adult Education of State Education Commission called some central relevant departments and some provincial level educational departments together to discuss relevant matters and formulate “The Content of Examination for Testing Literacy Level Attained by Illiterates”. The domains and their weights included in it is shown as following:

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Table 3.1 The content of the assessment for basically eradicated illiteracy of individuals Item # Item

Content Scores

Content of Examination Standard of perfection Notes

1. Reading Chinese

characters

Examining the number of Chinese characters

50

1. Listen and recognize 300 Chinese characters 2. Select the characters and to make up a word. Present 20 characters and 4 optional characters for selection. 3. Write the order of strokes and structures observed in calligraphy. Present 8 characters. 4. Correct the wrongly written characters. Present 6 sentences. In each sentence there are two wrongly written characters.

Total scores 30. Each 10 correct answer will be scored as 1. Total scores 10. Each correct answer will be scored as 0.5 Total scores 4. Each 2 correct answer will be scored as 1. Total scores 6, each correct answer will be scored as 0.5.

All the characters included in the test should be randomly selected from the list of new characters on the teaching materials for literacy according to their degree of difficulty. There is only one among the 4 optional characters can be used for selection The wrongly written characters should be the similar in pronunciation and the shapes to the correct one.

2. Reading and

comprehension

Examining

reading ability

20

Fill the blanks. Present 10 sentences there is one blank with 4 optional words.

Present the reading materials include around 500 characters with 5 questions. The each question has 4 options.

Total scores 10, each correct answer will be scored as 1. Total scores 10, each correct answer will be scored as 2.

The reading materials should be the popular and suitable for the examinees.

3. Calculation

Examining computation

al ability 10

Present a description of the simple account less than 2000 Yuan. Ask to complete the account and to calculate the surplus.

Mental arithmetic (including two kinds of mathematical operations)

Total scores 5, correct writing in income, expenditure and surplus will be scored as 5. Total scores 5.

Present a table with date, summary, income, expenditure, and surplus items of an account.

4. Practical Writing

Examining writing ability

20

Write a brief informal note

Write a brief letter with correct form, the sentences read smoothly, using punctuation correctly

Total scores 6. Correct form will be scored as 2, clear and coherent sentences will be scored as 3, no wrongly written characters will be scored as 1. Total scores 14. correct form will be scored as 2, clear and coherent sentences will be scored as 9, correct punctuation will be scored as 2, no wrongly written characters will be scored as 1.

The paper used for writing should be

printed into standardized writing paper with squares in

order to write in correct form.

Note? 1. On the basis of this standard requirement, the additional detailed rules and regulations could be established for scoring. 2. 120 minutes is recommended for the duration of the test.

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3.5 Implementing Literacy Assessment The procedure of literacy assessment is based on the regulations set by the Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy issued by the State Council and China’s realities. It is conducted according to the principles of openness, fairness, strictness and objectivity to ensure its quality and promote literacy education. 3.5.1 The range of literacy assessment Literacy work carried out by province (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government), prefecture (city), county (city) and township (town) level people’s governments and councils of villagers. 3.5.2 Personnel for literacy assessment In China, carrying out education assessment is an important function of educational administrative departments of various levels of governments. Educational departments at various levels are responsible for organizing, directing and coordinating the work of assessment so as to effectively carry out the task of assessment. They collaborate with other relevant departments (mainly governmental agencies in charge of agriculture, science and technology, women federation, and the Youth League, etc.) to set up a leading group for literacy assessment, headed by main leading cadres of both central relevant departments and province level educational departments with other members drawn from the educational department and from other relevant departments. 3.5.3 The procedure of literacy assessment State Education Commission specified a document on “The Assessment and Acceptance Standards for a Unit Claiming to Have Eradicated Illiteracy Among the Youth and Adult in Its Staff Members”. The procedures and methods of assessment stipulate the definition of the illiteracy is the age 15 to 45 youth and adults of born after October 1, 1949. The county which wants to claim that has achieved the basic criteria of eradicated illiteracy should evaluate by itself first and then submit the application to the prefecture level. After approve by the prefecture government, the application should submit to the province level. Then province government will organize an evaluation and assessment for the counties. The township which wants to claim that have achieved the basic criteria of eradicated illiteracy should evaluate by itself first and then submit the application to the county level. The grassroots unit of assessment are the administrative village in countryside and neighborhood committee and enterprises in township.

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In general, the test is organized by the administrative village. The test instruments are developed by county or prefecture level based on the criteria set up by the State education Commission. The main procedures are as follows: Once the achievement in all townships and towns under its jurisdiction have met the requirements for acceptance, the county government submit the result to the provincial-level government over it, subject to confirmation by the provincial-level government through a process of sample checks. Once the results are confirmed by the provincial-level government, the final result is reported to the national educational department, subject to its confirmation through a process of verification through sample checks. Then a list of all the qualified counties is published in national papers. 3.6 The Basic Methods The basic methods of the literacy assessment sample checks were as follows: At first, the county-level government organizes verification and acceptance exercises in the township and towns under its jurisdiction. In case all the townships and towns under the jurisdiction of a certain county (district) have met the criteria for basically eradicating illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults, it is incumbent on the county (district) government in question to submit a request for verification and acceptance to the upper level provincial-level government, and then the provincial-level government will organize sample checks in the county (district), the provincial-level government will organize a inspection team with members drawn from managerial personnel of provincial-level educational department and skilled personnel in literacy work to conduct sample checks. The sampling strategy used is called random sampling. This is randomly selecting a proportion from the list of name of participants of the literacy programme. The top priority of check up is given to five counties (cities, districts) of five prefectures (cities) where economic and educational conditions are relatively backward, illiterate population is large according to the forth population census and task of eradicating illiteracy remains formidable. Three townships (towns) in each county are checked up and three administrative villages are checked up in each township. A test is implemented to the neo-literates who have attained minimum literacy in the past three years. The participation rate should not be less than 80% in principle. The inspection team is usually divided into five sub groups. Each sub group has four members. They confirm the results of eliminating illiteracy and post-literacy education by listening to government reports, checking up relevant data, finding out the current situation of literacy work, convening meetings to discuss relevant matters, interviewing or paying home visit and conducting examinations to learners. The literacy assessment guideline is “Find out a complete and detailed picture of the current status, accumulate experiences, investigate the issues that need to be addressed in the future and promote literacy assessment work”. On the basis of it, a written report is provided by the inspection team to the sample checked local authorities and educational administrative departments to give them valuable feedback information, confirm whether they meet the criteria set for basically eradicating illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults, identify the issues that need to be addressed in the future and make a suggestion for the future work.

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3.7 Outcomes of literacy assessment A list of counties, cities and districts having satisfactorily passed acceptance of literacy work is published by the Ministry of Education annually. There are three categories of rewards in operation. The first category of reward is conferred by MOE or by MOE and MOF jointly to provinces and municipalities outstanding in literacy work. The second is to give SEdC-sponsored commendations to outstanding units and individuals. The third category refers to the institution of "Women's Literacy Awards" jointly granted by ACWF and SEdC (MOE) with a view to promoting literacy work among women. Up to 1999, through the assessment of the Ministry of Education of China, twenty four provinces (municipalities directly under the central government and autonomous regions of the country) have attained the state-regulated current objective of basically eradicating illiteracy among the young and middle-aged adults. Over 2500 counties (cities and districts) passed province-level government assessment. Up to 2000, 6 provinces in the western poor and remote areas (Yunnan, Guizhou, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Neimong) passed state literacy work inspection, study and survey. Up to now, the 30 provinces, municipalities directly under the central government and autonomous regions of the country, except Tibet have attained the great objective of basically eradicating illiteracy among the young and middle-aged adults. 3.8. The Projects for the Analytic Case Study of the Literacy Assessment Practices in China 3.8.1 10 Provinces Youth and Adult Illiterate Survey in 1993 During the period of eighth National Five Year Plan of Educational Research (1990-1995), China National Institute for Educational Research conducted a sample survey on the youth and adult illiterates in 1993. The survey was identified as the national key project. The purpose of the project was to identify the real situation and their characters of the illiterate in the rural areas in China. It was expected to be the bases of the new policies and strategies for the literacy programme. In the 10 provinces youth and adult illiterate survey in 1993, 10 provinces were selected for the survey. The target population was the 15-40 years old youth and adult illiterate and semi-illiterate, including the participants in the literacy programme but not including those who have already passed the verification and acceptance tests in accordance with the criteria set for literacy, doctor-testified the mentally retarded or disabled young and middle-aged illiterates and semi-illiterates nor those not at present for some reasons during the period of assessment. The sample was drawn by two stages cluster sampling procedure. First 50 townships were selected from each province and 10 objects were randomly selected from each township. At second stage, the same number of objects in the selected townships was draw again.

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3.8.2 8 provinces survey on the literate in 1998 In order to implement the Ninth Five Year Plan of Educational Research, China National Institute for Educational Research conducted a sample survey on the literate in 17 townships and an administrative village within 8 provinces (Heilongjiang, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Gansu, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hubei). The survey sampled 360 persons (20 persons were selected from each township and village according to being voluntary) who received literacy training programme and became the literate in recent three years. 360 questionnaires were distributed and 332 were recovered validly. The background questionnaire was included. The questions included the information on the personal background, their education, production and learning. And a test was also implemented to the participant. The test included the contents mentioned in the part 4.4. The result shown the 75% of them mastered the basic skills in reading, writing and calculation. 3.8.3 The Fifth National Population Census Four years after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1953, the country launched its first nationwide census. China's second census, in 1964, included for the first time questions about levels of education and people's occupations. The population then was nearly 700 million. Computer technology was used in the third census in 1982. A total of 19 categories were surveyed, including marriage status and the number of children per household. In 1990, the fourth census found that China's population had hit 1.13 billion. That census also revealed a floating migrant population and the reasons for it. It showed that China's migrant population had climbed to over 30 million between 1985 and 1990, with the majority flowing out of rural areas and into cities. Another trend identified was an increase in people's education levels. In 1990, nearly 16 million people received higher education - a figure 2 and a half times higher than the rate eight years earlier. The Fifth National Population Census was conducted in November 1, 2000. The census seeks to identify the radical changes in Chinese society over the past decade. Due to the great changes in China over the past ten years, many new questions are being asked, like information about housing. Those will form the basis on which the government will adjust its current policies, as well as make new ones on population control, education and so on. So this census is believed to be more significant than the previous four and it may directly influence the nation's legal thinking on its enormous population, as well as other policies in the new century. IV. Development of Literacy Assessment in China Conference on Education for All (WCEFA), held in 1990 in Jomtien, Thailand, has highlighted the need to improve learning opportunities and learning achievement in

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all countries. Article 1 of the WCEFA Declaration states that “basic learning needs” or competencies (BLCs),“comprise both essential learning tools (such as literacy, oral expression, numeracy and problem solving) and the basic learning content (such as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes) required by human beings...” (Unesco, 1990, p. 43) The World Education Forum (held in Dakar, Senegal, 26-28 April 2000) adopted the Dakar Framework for Action which contains overall goals and commitments of governments and the international community for achieving basic education for all by 2015. The goals aim at ensuring, in particular, quality primary education for all and gender equality for all levels of education by 2015, appropriate education for all out-of-school young people and under-educated adults, and recognized and measurable learning outcomes at all levels and for all educational activities. In the past decade, the highly skilled workforce in the industrialized countries has been seen as the key to economic growth and prosperity for a nation and the quest for economic growth and prosperity remains at the core of public policy. In these developed countries, the considerable effort has been devoted to the identification of skills needed to succeed in the workplace– skills that are believed to lie at the heart not only of individual job performance and corporate success but also economic prosperity and social cohesion more broadly. The Chinese government has initiated and is energetically implementing the strategy of rejuvenating the nation through science and education. The Chinese government advocates respect for knowledge and talents and takes the development of human resources as an important means to boost sustained economic and social development.

China is persistent in giving priority to developing science and education, facilitating the integral development of human resources, reforming the personnel system and labor and employment system. And the country is working hard to create conditions and environment for all kinds of talented people to play their role, continuously improve the ethical, scientific and cultural qualities of the whole nation and upgrade the knowledge and technical skills of the laborers. Noting that China is still a developing country, in terms of human resources development, China has yet to meet the requirement of its economic and social development and still trails far behind the countries at advanced level.

However, China is doing much to implement its talents strategy, develop its human resources, improve the all-round quality of the laborers and gain an edge in respect of human resources so as to give forceful support to the reform and opening-up endeavor and modernization drive.

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In the proposal “Establish a national monitoring system of quality of labour force” submitted to 4th mission of 8th National People’s Congress Assembly. March 1996, the Chinese scholars proposed to establish a regular monitoring system on the quality of labour force at national level. Unfortunately, like in the most of developing countries, the accurate measure of the human capital, particularly the adult skills or Basic Learning Competencies in the population is not a practice yet. If one considers the fact that globalization and technological change are likely to increase the demand for skilled labour (OECD, 2000). This concern is particularly in light of China’s impending entry into the WTO. The most of existing exercises on the measure of Basic Learning Competencies in China are the student assessments and the literacy programme assessment. Table 4.1 presents the major projects on the student assessment in China since 1980’s. Table 4.1 The Major Student Assessment Programme in 1980-90s in China Subject Time Target

Population Objectives Sample Sponsor

Joint Study on

Moral Education of

Youth & Children

1991-93 Grade 5 Primary,

Grade 2 Junior

Secondary

Grade 2 Senior

Secondary

The status of

moral values &

moral

behavioral

development

Non-probability

Typical sample

(5718 students)

Badi

Foundation

The Second IEA

Science Study

1985-86 14 Years, Grade 3

Junior Secondary

Learning

achievement in

physics,

chemistry,

biology &

geography

Two-stage random

sample (2817

students)

The State

Education

Commission

National Survey of

Junior Secondary

Achievement

1986-87 Grade 3 Junior

Secondary

Learning

achievement in

math, Chinese

language,

foreign

language

Representative

sample of 50,000

students

The State

Education

Commission

UNESCO/UNICEF

Joint Project

1993-95 Grade 4 & 6

Primary

Learning

achievement in

math, Chinese

language and

life skills

Multistage

probability

random sample

(48,000 students,

1200 schools, 8

provinces)

UNESCO

UNICEF

The State

Education

Commission

PISA Pilot 1999 15 Years To explore the

ways to

1000 students in 3

secondary schools

OECD

The State

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establish a

national quality

indicator on

student learning

achievement

Education

Commission

But there is also an effort that is trying to link the adult literacy with the labor markets. Based on the International Adult Literacy Survey project developed by Statistics Canada, the researchers in the Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in collaboration with their counterparts at University of Michigan and Michigan State University, designed and implemented the China Adult Literacy Survey1 (CALS) in five cites of China: Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenyang, Fuzhou and Xian, which is a first attempt to implement a literacy survey in China and to explore ways in improving measures of human capital. Drawn from a databank of questions whose validity has been tested in multiple countries, developed by IALS researchers at Statistics Canada, the CALS tries to separately identify three dimensions of life skills following the literacy classifications used in the IALS: prose literacy, document literacy and quantitative literacy2. The CALS was conducted among the working-age population of adults sampled the previous year in the China urban labor survey (CULS). The CULS was conducted in five cities: Shenyang, Xian, Wuhan, Shanghai and Fuzhou. For each city chosen, households were selected based on PPS (Probability Proportional to Size) method. The probability of sample units to be chosen varied with their size such that the larger size units had a higher probability of being chosen. Specifically, our sampling had three stages. In stage one we chose a jiedao (equivalent to neighborhood) in a city. At this stage, we: (1) list all jiedao of the city with their population size; (2) find sampling distance by dividing the total population of the city by the number of jiedao we need to choose; (3) decide a starting point randomly; and (4) select each jiedao as our sample unit based on the sampling distance. Similarly, stage two is to choose juweihui (communities/residents’ committees) and in stage three we chose households

1 The detailed information about the design, sampling, and implementation of CALS is included in a Preliminary

Report on the China Adult Literacy Survey submitted to the World Bank prepared by The China Adult Literacy

Survey Team (12/20/ 2002, Beijing). 2Prose literacy focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to understand and use information from texts that

contain extended prose organized in a paragraph structure typically found in news stories, editorials, brochures and

pamphlets, manuals, and fiction. Document literacy focuses on knowledge and skills required to locate and use

information found in qualitatively different printed materials that contain more abbreviated language and use a

variety of structural devices to convey meaning. These include tables, charts, graphs, indices, diagrams, maps

and schematics. Quantitative literacy refers to the ability to interpret, apply, and communicate mathematical

information in commonly encountered situations. Quantitative tasks can be characterized by the computational

skills required and by the problem-solving strategies used.

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following the same procedures as we did for jiedao and juweihui. After a household was selected, all of the family members above age 16 who were no longer in school were interviewed.3 The test required 30 minutes, and the respondent could finish it in advance and record the time required, but was required to hand in the test at the end of 30 minutes. The main results from this survey are summarized in table 4.2.

Table 4.2 Average CALS Literacy Test Scores (Correct Rate)

(Averages Calculated Using Sample Weights Based on 2000 Census) Shanghai Wuhan Shenyang Fuzhou Xian Five Cities

Local Urban Huhou

Quantitative 0.35 0.52 0.46 0.34 0.56 0.43

Prose 0.40 0.26 0.23 0.29 0.27 0.32

Doc 0.54 0.57 0.55 0.47 0.61 0.55

Total 0.46 0.46 0.43 0.39 0.50 0.46

Migrants

Quantitative 0.41 0.40 0.45 0.37 0.45 0.41

Prose 0.19 0.31 0.49 0.12 0.46 0.26

Doc 0.57 0.52 0.68 0.51 0.61 0.57

Total 0.42 0.43 0.58 0.36 0.53 0.44

Total

Quantitative 0.36 0.51 0.46 0.35 0.55 0.43

Prose 0.37 0.27 0.24 0.26 0.29 0.31

Doc 0.55 0.57 0.55 0.47 0.61 0.56

Total 0.46 0.46 0.44 0.38 0.50 0.46

Source: The CALS

The findings of the survey suggest that it is feasible to implement literacy surveys in China, and that they are able to tell us much about the skill level of different sub-populations of the labor force, and the use of the CALS or similar instruments can provide useful insight into outcomes experienced in China’s transitional labor market. However, as trial of adult literacy test in China, the results of CALS have not yet been scaled as comparable internationally. V. Main Conclusions The present case study of literacy assessment practice in China has shown that the inspection, supervision and assessment of literacy programme exercised at various levels throughout China. It is a very important measure to promote the Education for All in China particularly to promote the adult literacy education. However, so far, the estimation of adult’s skill or knowledge levels relying on self-report or surrogate (proxy) information rather than on direct testing of skills has

3English language translations of the CULS instruments can be found at: http://www.msu.edu/~gilesj/

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still been a typical practice at national level. The typical question in these exercises is “Can you read and write?” And it is also determined based on information about school attendance: those with at least three years of formal public schooling are assumed to be literate and those with lesser levels, illiterate. Since the concept of functional literacy has been introduced to the literacy education programme in China in 1990s, the national reform of the adult literacy education programme and its appropriate assessment is in processing. The Ministry of Agriculture, People’s Republic of China and WFP/IFAD have launched several Integrated Agricultural Development Projects in the poor areas in China, such as Qinling Mountain areas. In these projects, the Functional Literacy has been treated as “context-specific, developmental, open-ended continuum of skills, attitudes, values and general knowledge which enable an individual to acquire, evaluate, use and exchange written and quantitative information pertinent to livelihood and other social activities, to the level of economic development of the nation, and in fulfillment of self-determined objectives as individuals and citizens”. (WFP/IFAD Appraisal Mission Report, Project 6147, 1999) So the concept of the Functional Literacy Training in the project is much wider than the historical notion of the ability to read and write. The OECD definition on literacy has been taken into account for the development of the training materials for these projects. “The Literacy for effective participation in modern society requires mastery of a body of basic knowledge and skills. The focus is not primarily on the mastery of specific curriculum content, but on the ability to reflect on and use reading, mathematical and scientific knowledge, understanding and skills to achieve personal goals and to participate effectively in society (OECD, 1999).” Common usage now accepts that a literate person has a range of competencies. Moreover, it has come to be accepted that there is no single cut-off point between a person who is fully literate and one who is illiterate. Literacy is measured on a continuum, not as something that one either does or does not have. Literacy is regarded as knowledge and skills for adult life. Its acquisition is a lifelong process – taking place not just at school or through formal learning, but also through interaction with peers, colleagues and wider communities. From a macro view, the direct measures of adult literacy and skills is an urgent issue in China now, if one considers the fact that globalization and technological change are likely to increase the demand for skilled labor (OECD, 2000). This concern is particularly timely in light of China’s impending entry into the WTO. A highly skilled workforce is seen as the key to economic growth and prosperity and the quest for economic growth and prosperity remains at the core of public policy around the world. It is now more and more accepted that knowledge and skills are at the heart of the development and diffusion of new technologies and crucial to

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technical innovation. Education, training and policies designed to encourage the accumulation of technical knowledge can make a difference in achieving growth and prosperity of a nation. It will be important for the policy makers understand that universal education would not guarantee a universally skilled population. So it is a time to consider extending the content of current adult literacy assessment to broader issues of numeracy or life skills rather than literacy only. And it need also to extend the target population to a nation-wide population, particularly focus on the youth and young adults on the labour market. In this regard, a national monitoring system of skills of labour force in a broad sense of literacy and life skills will be necessary for the future economic and social development. In the system, the development of an adult life skills framework and effective tools for adult skill measurement are essential. There is a need for this kind of information system that allow analysts to identify trends in the supply and demand for skills and in particular to identify skill shortages and deficits not only in terms of occupationally defined technical skill sets but also generalized workplace skills. In the past the assessment is too much focus on we have focused on measuring formal educational attainment and the mastery of 3 R’s for adult illiterate. The skill measures will allow us to measure the accumulation of actual skills. This will provide the policy makers the credible data about the breadth and depth of the “basic skills problem”. It will allow the policy makers to design and plan investments in the adult education and training programs or initiatives that can respond to the changing demands of youths and young adults, especially those in disadvantaged circumstances.

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Knight, John, and Lina Song. 2001. “Economic Growth, Economic Reform, and Rising Inequality in China,” in Carl Riskin, Zhao Renwei, and Li Shi, eds., China’s Retreat From Equality: Income Distribution and Economic Transition (Armonk, N.Y and London: M.E. Sharpe), pp. 84-122. Wagner, D. A. 1990. “Literacy Assessment in the Third World: An Overview and Proposed Schema for Survey Use. Comparative Education Review 33(1): 112-138. Wagner, D. A. 1992. Literacy: Developing the Future, Unesco Yearbook of Education, Vol. 43 (Paris: Unesco). Zhou, Xiaoguang. 2001. Returns to Education in State Socialist China: A Historical Assessment, mimeo, Duke University Zhao, Yaohui. forthcoming. “Earnings Differentials between State and Non-State Enterprises in Urban China,” Pacific Economic Review. The Circular (Jiaochengzi No. 1, 1988) on the State Council’s “The Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy Work” issued by State Education Commission on February 27, 1988. The State Council’s Decision on Revising “The Regulations on Eradicating Illiteracy Work” (No. 122 1993). The “Circular on Further Guaranteeing the quality of examination and acceptance of achievements of literacy work” (Jiaochengting No. 014, 1990) issued by General Office of State Education Commission on June 8, 1990. The “Circular on Inspection of Literacy Work” (Jiaocheng No. 016, 1990) issued by State Education Commission on July 25, 1990. The “Circular on “the Outlines for the Inspection of Literacy Work” ” (Jiaocheng No. 018, 1990) issued by State Education Commission on July 30, 1990. The “Circular on Inspection of Literacy work in the Nine Provinces and Autonomous Regions” (Jiaocheng No. 022, 1990) issued by General Office of State Education Commission on November 19, 1990. The “Circular on “the Syllabus of three subjects: “Practical Chinese”, “Practical Mathematics” and “Practical Science and Technology” for Rural Adult Primary Cultural and Technical Education”(Jiaocheng No. 12, 1992) issued by State Education Commission on October 21, 1992.

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The “Circular on Trying out “the Procedures for the Check-up and Acceptance of Units Claiming to Have Basically Eradicated Illiteracy among Youth and Middle-aged People”” (Jiaocheng No. 11, 1992) issued by State Education Commission on October 22, 1992. The “Circular on Trying out “the Syllabus for Literacy Education”” (Jiaocheng No. 13, 1992) issued by State Education Commission on October 29, 1992. The “Circular on Sending Down “the Procedures for the Check-up and Acceptance of Universalizing Nine-year Compulsory Education”” (Jiaodu No. 2, 1993) issued by State Education Commission on March 8, 1993. The “Circular on Several Issues Related to the Check-up and Acceptance of Universalizing Nine-year Compulsory Education and Counties (cities and districts) Claiming to Have Basically Eradicated Illiteracy among Young and Middle-aged Adults” (Jiaoduting No. 3, 1993) issued by State Education Commission on May 20, 1993. The Suggestions of State Education Commission on the Implementation of Basically Universalizing Nine-year Compulsory Education and Basically Eradicating Illiteracy among Young and Middle-aged Adults in the 1990s (Jiaoji No. 18, 1994) issued by State Education Commission on September 1, 1994. “Major Figures of the 1982 Population Census” jointly edited by the National Population Census Office Under the State Council and Department of Population, Society and Science and Technology Statistics of the State Statistical Bureau. China Statistical Publishing House, 2001. 6. “Major Figures of the Fourth National Population Census of China” edited by the National Population Census Office Under the State Council. China Statistical Publishing House, 1991. 2. “Major Figures of the Fifth National Population Census of China” jointly edited by the National Population Census Office Under the State Council and Department of Population, Society and Science and Technology Statistics of the State Statistical Bureau. China Statistical Publishing House, 2001. 6. “Test Paper For Sample Checks of Literacy Work in Shanxi Province, 1997 made by National Inspection Group for Literacy Work” (Department of Adult Education of State Education Commission, 1997). “Test Paper For Basically Eradicated Illiteracy of Individuals in Hebei Province” (Hebei Provincial Education Commission, 1995)

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“Literacy Education in China” edited by Yu Bo and Xie Guodong, Northeast Forestry University Publishing House, 1998. 10. WFP/IFAD, 1999 Appraisal Mission Report, Project 6147, Qinling Mountain Integrated Agricultural Development Project Meng Hong wei,2001 Mission Report for Training of trainers of Functional Literacy Training, Project 6147- Qinling Mountain Area Poverty Alleviation, Shaanxi and Hubei Provinces, WFP/IFAD Qinling Mountain Integrated Agricultural Development Project (unpublished) ILI/UNESCO, 1999 Basic Learning Competencies Among the Youth Population in Developing Countries: A Survey Design and Analytic Framework, Philadelphia